What She Loves
by TheAuthorx
Summary: "I love how mean and manipulative your mother is, I love that I'm your emergency contact but most of all I love you." Because she really really does. AU Series 1 ending. Review and be kind :


She's in the middle of video call with Floyd when she gets the call from the hospital and she's understandably worried. In fact she so worried that Floyd may have just broken up with her and she doesn't really care. After all, she doesn't even know if it's Floyd that she loves. When she finally arrives at the hospital (after breaking so many road laws and nearly crashing Tracey's car) she sees Phoebe complaining to the nurse and Colleen making some comment about bird flu and not coming out. She ignores Phoebe and walks towards the nurse.

"Hi, I'm Liz Lemon, someone called me?"

"Oh yes, Mr Donaghy designated you his emergency contact."

"What?" Shock, surprise, happiness and a bit of pride flash through her body. She doesn't like Phoebe, she's been quite vocal about that fact, and the thought of Liz being Jack's emergency contact instead of Phoebe, make Liz feel a bit smug. No, a lot smug. She's about to ask more questions, like _is he okay _when doctor Dr Spaceman walks out covered in blood. It makes Liz's blood run cold and her heart stop and she wonders for a moment if that means she feels more for her boss than just some meaningless crush. Before she can too much into that line of thought though Leo is cutting her off with one of his usual reassurances.

"What? This? No, no, I was at a costume party earlier this evening." More reasonable than his usual comments. "And the hostess's dog attacked me. So I had to stab it." And there it is- some crazy comment when he should be talking about Jack. "Jack's going to be fine but he has had a pretty serious cardiac episode. Also, I suspect he may have scurvy because he keeps asking for Lemon." It's hard to keep the smile of her face at his comment but she just manages to as she step forward and takes her place and Jacks closest companion.

Spaceman opens the large white door he had appeared from only a few minutes ago and started walking through them, where Liz follows, really wishing she'd left her briefcase in the car and not bothered to try and look intimidating, because even she can tell that she's a nervous wreck. She hurries through the door and sees Jack lying on the bed. He looks weak, but stable, clearly, and awake.

"Lemon is that you?" his voice is quiet and raspy but the sound of his voice, the reassurance of his voice makes her relax for the first time since the hospital called.

"Yer, it's me. How are you feeling?" A stupid question she knows but she doesn't know what to say to the boss you may love when their lying in a hospital bed after a heart attack.

"They gave me something. My mouth tastes like purple."

"Okay."

"I saw it Lemon. My whole life passing right before my eyes. Neil Patterson, the kitchen microwave tray, me personally coining the phrase 'what's the up side?'..." Okay so this was not what she was expecting. "…participating in hands across America, and in all this time I've been on this earth, I only have on regret…" Phoebe, Phoebe, Phoebe. "… I should have worked more." Seriously!

"That's what you're taking away from this experience?"

"Work is the only thing I'm good at." No, being amazing and kind is what your good at. Being with me is something you could be good at. "Lemon, you and I have that in common." Another backhanded compliment.

"No Jack, that's not tru-"

"-I've been rolling calls from here, trying to spin this Tracey thing." She can see he's getting stressed and in pain and neither are any good for either of them. For Liz to be calm she needs Jacks to be calm.

"Jack! Forget about Tracey, you have to relax!" For both of them.

"No, no, no, no," Jack denies, "You've got to get back to work and come up with something, with or without Tracey or you're going to be so screwe-"

"Okay, okay." Liz doesn't mean to sound so crabby but come on! She trying to help him and he's sending her away.

"Maybe this is the drugs talking…" Oh god, this can't be good. "… but I think I got Nixon to agree to come on the show and say 'Suck it!' to me." Yes, that was most definitely the drugs talking.

"Great," however is all Liz manages to get out before she leaves the hospital and heads back to work.

She's back at the hospital within two hours because whilst her body may have been at work her mind wasn't, nor was her patience or kindness. So when she pushed Josh into a wall made of wire Pete suggests that maybe she should head back to the hospital. She ignores him as per usual but 30 minutes later when Tracey's back and about to go onstage and she knows everything will be fine she grabs her handbag and makes her way back to Jack. Just as she enters the room Colleen is asking Jack questions and watching his heart monitor and it occurs to Liz that Colleens just figured out she can see if Jack's lying about anything. It turns out Jack dies his hair, stole $20 from Colleen in the summer of 1970, his middle name is Francis and he does in fact love his mother. It's the next question from Phoebe however that shocks her.

"Do you love me?" There's no need for Jack to answer, his heart rate going through the roof is enough. Once Liz realises what happening she decided to leave but right as she gets to the door Phoebe asks another question that stops her in her tracks. "Do you love Liz?"

"Maybe but she doesn't love me." What!? Jack loves her? Wait, he doesn't think she loves him!? Time to correct that. "Why would she?"

"Yes, oh yes I do!" Suddenly everyone turns around and notices her for the first time. Her eyes lock onto Jacks and she feels the need to reassure him about her love. "I love your last name and I love how perfect Elizabeth Donaghy sounds- because yes, for you and your image I would be Elizabeth, I love that you always wear a tux after 6 and that you constantly sake me away from my actual job so I can write opening lines for fundraisers that are months away. I love that you want to be my mentor and that you used me to make your ex-wife jealous. I love that when my writers called me the C-word you were proud of me for making them think that. I love that you convinced me to drop Dennis and that you tell me when I have lettuce in my hair. I love that I was the first person you go to with your problem and that you wanted to me to approve of Phoebe before you proposed. I love how mean and manipulative your mother is, I love that I'm your emergency contact but most of all I love you. Possibly, no definitely more than anything else including TGS."

"Oh, Liz, I don't know what to say," Jack says speechless.

"Say that you love me too," Liz suggests, "or else this is really embarrassing."

"Oh Liz, I love you too." Colleen gasps and Phoebe storms out but by this point all Jack and Liz are aware of is themselves. Liz practically throws herself at Jack and as their lips meet it occurs to both of them that they've never been this happy before, never been this in love before. They continue to kiss until Jack heart monitor nearly goes off the scale and Liz realises it's time to stop. At this point Colleen winks at her son before copying Phoebe by leaving the room. Suddenly it's just the two of them and Liz doesn't know what to say.

"So, I'm your emergency contact, huh?" Smooth Lemon, real smooth.

"You're the only person I know that wouldn't hesitate to pull the plug." Yep, that's the Jack she knows and loves. "I'm glad you're not going to Cleveland." In other words I love you Liz.

"I'm glad you're not getting married." I love you too.

"Well, Phoebe is a lovely girl…" The heart monitor disagrees, "but same, I'm glad I'm not getting married- to Phoebe anyway."

"I'm going to pull the plug now," Lemons says after a moment's silence.

"Whoa, whoa," Jack calls in disagreement.

"Just let me do it."

"Only because I love you… and I trust the doctors waiting outside the door."

THE END


End file.
